Strange and Beautiful
by GinaDarling
Summary: - "Jackie, I need you." - Yep, it's another one of those. Friendship, romance, and maybe a little court drama. I haven't decided yet. Just read it. It's everyone's guilty little pleasure. Jack/OC
1. Freckles

**This was just a random idea I had and needed to get out before I exploded. I have no idea how often I'll be able to update, because I have two other stories going that I need to try and keep up with too. (I've been bad- it's been weeks for both of them.) Really, I was just inspired, and decided to just take the plunge and give an old idea my own little spin. Also, I really wanted to try something different from what I've been writing. **

**In the beginning, this story is going to skip over some pretty long periods of time (months, usually) because I don't want to just start with this strange character already chummy with the characters you know and love. That feels like starting in the middle of a movie to me. I want to show where it started, and why the characters react to her they way they do. I hope you'll forgive the time lapses. I'm trying to make it flow as smoothly as possible.**

**That being said, read at your own risk. **

Chapter One: Freckles

The first time Jack Mercer met Jianna Love he was fourteen and climbing through his bedroom window onto the roof for a smoke. Halfway out he looked up to see a girl about his age watching him with casual disinterest from atop the similar outcropping of roof directly across from his. She said nothing while he pulled himself the rest of the way out with a barely audible grunt, and again remained silent as he pulled an old Altoids tin from his pocket and retrieved the already rolled joint from within. His first impression of the unfamiliar girl was that she was plain. He watched her with an equal air of indifference as he held the flame from his lighter to the tip of the joint.

Jianna returned his stare from behind the messy auburn waves of her hair. She was sitting with her legs pulled up to her chest and a half smoked cigarette hung from between her short fingers. There was just enough moonlight for Jack to make out the spattering of freckles that went across her nose from one cheek to the other and the black shorts and tank top he assumed were her pajamas.

Shoving his lighter into his pocket and taking a long drag, he said, "Hey." Just one word of greeting. Jack wasn't sure why he bothered. Maybe it was the awkward intimacy of suddenly sharing his space with another person. He'd lived in that house for almost six years, and that rooftop had been the strangest kind of sanctuary ever since he moved in. It was disconcerting to stumble upon someone while seeking time to himself.

Jianna nodded to him, a curt acknowledgment of his halfhearted attempt at pleasantries, and cocked her head to the side. She brought the cigarette to her lips and Jack watched the end of it light up with the sudden rush of oxygen. She stretched out her legs casually and took one more drag before flicking the filter over the side into the darkness. It spun through the air and gave off tiny sparks that made it look like some sort of cancerous firework. She was quiet for another moment, emitting a jet of smoke from between her chapped lips before finally speaking. "That weed?"

Jack took another drag, savoring the tingling sensation of the smoke forced down his throat, and nodded. Jianna shifted slightly, surveying him with a curiosity that intrigued him. She pursed her lips, scanning his hunched figure from his mop of light brown hair to his bare feet. Vaguely, she recognized the Iron Maiden t-shirt he wore and black sweatpants.

Folding her legs together, Jianna leaned forward onto her knees and smiled teasingly. "You know that's pretty stupid, right?"

Stalling, Jack brought the drug to his lips again and wondered who this girl was, encroaching on his space and poking fun at his bad habits. After a moment of contemplation, he replied, "Yup." A tendril of smoke passed his lips along with the word. Jianna's smile widened, and Jack could see a perfect white row of teeth peak out from under her upper lip. It was probably the only attention-grabbing thing about her.

"Can I try?" she asked, surprising him.

Jack considered her for a moment, and then broke into a grin. "Sure." With an ease that didn't coincide with his awkward frame, he stood and stepped over the two-foot gap between the roofs. He settled down next to Jianna and passed the joint into her pale fingers. "Take a hit, hold it in 'til you're almost outta air, then take another breath." Jianna nodded, placed the joint between her lips, and did as directed. The coughing was almost immediate, and Jack had to hold in a laugh. "Burns, huh?"

"Fuckin'…yes!" Jianna gasped between her fits of coughing. "Shit. Take that away from me…take it away!" She shoved the offending substance into Jack's waiting fingers and covered her mouth to cough some more.

Jack had to laugh at that. "It always burns the first few times." They sat in silence for a few minutes, Jack smiling and shaking his head as he continued to smoke and Jianna making a rather unattractive face to express her displeasure.

Looking up at the sky, and then at Jack, she said, "I don't feel any different."

"You only took one hit. You don't get a buzz off one hit. 'Least not the first time." Jack shrugged and held the blunt out. "Wanna try again?"

Jianna made a face and shook her head. "Maybe another time. After the flesh in my throat heals."

Jack grimaced. "Gross." She grinned and they both leaned back to rest on the shingles. After a beat, Jack turned his head. "So who the fuck are you, anyway?" Jianna couldn't help but laugh at the way he asked. Her giggles, like bells, were surprisingly enchanting. Finally, she managed to calm herself, but then his irritated expression just made her laugh again.

"Sorry. You just asked that so casually." Jianna turned away and closed her eyes, trying to gather up enough composure to quit laughing. When she had, she looked at him again. "I'm Jianna." Jack's face darkened and he stared at her. "What?"

"_Jianna_? You rich or something?" he asked.

"If I were rich, would I be living here?"

Jack looked back at the stars. "No."

"Then there's your answer."

"But, seriously, _Jianna_?" He turned to look at her again.

Jianna glared. "Fuck you. It's a family name."

Jack smirked and laughed. "Jee-aw-naw," he said, purposely lowering his voice and drawing the vowels out. "Care for some champagne, Jee-aw-naw? Perhaps some caviar?"

"Shut up!" Jianna snapped, shoving him. But he saw that she was smiling and her shoulders were shaking with a few silent giggles. Jack laughed and then lapsed into silence as she did. He sat up suddenly, and with a sigh ground out the last useless embers of the joint on the shingles and dropped it over the edge. Jianna sat up as well and watched him grind the butt out with the heal of his hand and dispose of it before speaking. "So who the fuck are you, anyway?"

Jack laughed and wiped his hand on his pants. "I'm Jack."

"And you're making fun of _my_ name?"

"Jack is a perfectly respectable name."

"Not worn by you it isn't."

Jack's frown could have easily been misconstrued as a pout. "What's that s'posed to mean?"

Jianna grinned. "Face it, Jackie. You 'n me, we're just two more poor souls making up the corrupted youth of America."

"I ain't no corrupted nothin'."

"You sound like a hillbilly, Jack."

"If I do, it's my brothers' fault."

"Irregardless," Jianna said, waving his words away, "by society's standards, you're corrupted."

Jack narrowed his eyes at her. "Where the hell did you come from?"

Jianna sighed. "Jackson."

"The fuck you doin' here, Miss Jackson?"

She laughed. "My mom got remarried to a really great guy. Problem is, he's got this deadbeat son already and our apartment in Jackson barely fit two."

"So you moved to _Detroit_?"

"So we moved in with him and his deadbeat son," Jianna specified. She paused, turning her ear towards the window behind them. "Speaking of, sounds like he finally passed out."

"Who, the nice guy or the mooching son?" Jack asked with a smirk.

Jianna smiled. "The mooching son. The nice guy hit the sack hours ago." She listened for another moment. "Yup, stereo's off. That's my cue." With a sigh, she turned and crawled back through the open window, turning around only when she'd made it onto the bed beneath it. Jack had already stood up and stepped back over onto his own roof, but he turned when she spoke again. "Nice talking to ya, Jackie."

Jack raised his eyebrows, but didn't comment on her casual manipulation of his name. "Yeah, uh, you too Jia."

"That ain't my name," Jianna replied.

Jack didn't answer. He'd turned back around and was in the middle of lowering his feet to the floor and maneuvering the rest of his body through the small opening. When he finally looked at her again, he simply said, "You sound like a hillbilly," and shut the window. Jianna laughed quietly to herself and pulled her own window shut. She considered the curtains for a moment before deciding it wasn't worth the effort of closing them. It wasn't like she was changing.

He didn't see her again until almost two weeks later. It was the middle of August at that point, and Jack was trying to beat the heat with his window open all the way and a swivel fan turned on high across the room. He was sprawled out on his bed, messing with that year's birthday present (a used acoustic guitar, though it was better than gold in his eyes) to distract himself from the weather when three hard knocks on the window frame demanded his attention. Jack stared at the figure crouching in his window for at least thirty seconds before he realized who it was. She looked different. For one, her hair was pulled back in a messy bun so he could see the oval of her face more clearly. She was also wearing everyday clothes- a pair of jeans cut off at the knee and a gray tank top. But neither of these things were what really surprised him. No, what shocked Jack the most were her eyes. It was the first time he actually saw them in proper light, and the eerily pale green was disconcerting. Jack had been wrong. Her most pronounced feature was not her teeth. It was her eyes.

After a long silence, Jianna sighed. "You just gonna stare, Jackie, or are ya gonna invite me in? It's awful hot out here."

Jack blinked and shook his head. "Uh, yeah, sure. If you want." She grinned and sat down on the sill, lowering her flip-flop clad feet to the carpet and pulling the rest of her body inside with considerably more grace than Jack had. She padded across the room as if she popped in through his window all the time and grabbed the chair from his desk. Without bothering to turn it around, Jianna just straddled it, rested her arms on the back and offered Jack a smile that almost made up for the homeliness of her other features. Almost. Jack sat up and set his guitar aside, responding to her smile with a calculating look. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

"You been practicing, Jack? Impeccable use of diction." Jack didn't reply, opting instead to keep his eyes leveled on hers the way his Ma always did to get something out of her sons. Jianna tried staring back, but there was something about Jack's Ma's method that was irresistible. "Okay, okay. My step-brother's shooting up again."

Jack waited for her to elaborate, but when she didn't said, "Again?"

"Yeah. He does it, like, every day." Jianna waved her hand in the air like it was no big deal. "Anyway, he's not so nice when he does that stuff. I didn't feel like dealing with him today."

"So you decided to climb across a couple 'a roofs and bother me instead?" Jack asked with a smirk.

"Pretty much." Jianna shrugged. "I'd have gone out the front door and asked your mommy if you could come out and play, but then he would've seen me."

"So?"

She made a face. "So he's not a nice person when he's high."

Jack saw something in her expression that he recognized, maybe from the mirror. His brow furrowed. "What's he do that's so bad?" Jianna didn't seem to want to answer, so he set his eyes on her again the same way he had before. She looked away, and before he could ask her again the bedroom door flew open and slammed into the wall with a loud _crack_. Jack glared at the dark haired man leaning casually against the doorjamb. "Why you gotta break the damn wall every time you come in here, Bobby?"

"Shut up, Fairy. Ma told me to tell you that lunch is ready," Bobby replied, apparently unconcerned with the ever widening hole he was wearing into Jack's wall. A small movement caught his eye, and he turned to look at Jianna, who seemed to be suppressing a laugh. "Who the fuck-" He turned abruptly to glare at Jack. "Jackie, the hell are you doing sneaking girls into your room?"

"I didn't sneak her in!" Jack exclaimed. "She just showed up in the window! I didn't invite her over!"

"Bullshit." Bobby turned towards the hall. "Ma! Hey, Ma!"

"Don't fuckin' call her, Bobby!" Jack pleaded.

Bobby whirled around and pointed a finger in his brother's face. "Hey! Watch your mouth."

Jianna could no longer keep herself from laughing. She doubled over, crippled by her own joviality. Bobby stared at her, obviously just as entranced by her laugh as Jack had been. Even doubled over and tearing up, she still didn't sound obnoxious or even too loud. It was a nice sound. Sweet, almost, with an air of childishness that was almost charming. When her laughter finally died, Jianna sat back and wiped the moisture from her face with a wide grin. "I haven't laughed like that in forever. Thanks." Both boys just continued to stare at her.

"Damn, Jackie," Bobby said. "Where did you _find_ her?"

"I live next door," Jianna offered. "And he _is_ telling the truth. I did just show up in the window. I'm sorry." She fixed her face into a mockingly serious expression. "I should have called first." As Bobby opened his mouth to retort, a short, stout woman appeared in the doorway behind him. Her snow-white hair was held back at her neck by a ribbon and her kind face was crinkled with annoyance.

"What is it, Bobby?" she asked exasperatedly.

Bobby pointed at Jianna. "Jack's got a girl in his room," he stated.

"How _old_ are you?" Jack snapped.

Jianna quickly stood up as the woman who was obviously Jack's mother stepped around Bobby and into the room. "It was my fault, ma'am," the young girl said sincerely. Her tone made Jack and Bobby cast each other a confused glance. Jianna's demeanor had changed so suddenly that it was almost eerie. "I didn't mean to get Jack in trouble or anything. We really weren't doing anything but talk."

The two boys remained silent as their mother studied Jianna with an expression they could both imagine, even though her back was to them. "You bullshittin' me, girl?" the woman asked.

"No, ma'am," Jianna replied without looking the least surprised at the harsh language. "We weren't even sitting on the same side of the room." Jack suddenly found himself grinning. She was _good_, and with her freckles and soft features, it was hard to doubt her, even with the ghostly green eyes. When Bobby gave him an accusing look, he toned down his smile but didn't drop it completely.

His mother scanned her face pensively for several more seconds before breaking into a smile. "You're that nice woman's daughter, just moved in next door, aren't you?"

Jianna returned the smile. "Yes ma'am. That'd be me."

"What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Jianna."

Bobby, realizing he wasn't going to witness any angry lectures, stalked out of the room. Jack's smile grew back to its original size. If Ma liked Jianna, well, hell, he had no excuse not to.

"What a lovely name. I'm Evelyn, Jackie's mother."

"Thank you, Miss Evelyn. I'm very glad to meet you."

Evelyn chuckled and shook her head. "Now, Jianna, you better quit that. No fourteen-year-old talks like a debutante because they mean it."

Jianna's smile shrank a tiny bit and Jack covered his mouth to muffle a laugh. "But I do mean it."

The elder woman sighed and focused her eyes on the teen in a way that Jianna recognized vaguely from Jack's expression earlier. Jianna's smile disappeared and she suddenly looked meek. Jack bit on his first knuckle to keep from laughing aloud. He knew all too well what it was like to be in Jianna's shoes. He was in them at least once a week. He also knew that his Ma was not your typical parent. "Don't you bullshit me no more, girl."

"Yes, Miss Evelyn," Jianna replied.

Evelyn broke into another smile. "Good girl. We're gonna get along just fine. Now, why don't you come on downstairs with me and I'll get you some lunch. Need to get some meat on those bones or you'll never live through the winter." She started to lead the girl out of the room.

"Oh, I don't want to impose," Jianna said. Evelyn stopped and fixed her with another stare. "I mean, okay. Thank you, Miss Evelyn."

"That's more like it," Evelyn stated, and continued to usher her into the hall. Jack followed behind, not bothering to hide his smile. His Ma was some kind of woman, and he could tell from the way she'd reacted to Jianna that she saw something real good in the girl. She didn't waste her time calling out every little friend her sons brought home; only the ones she really liked, because those were the ones she wanted to find out more about. "How do you feel about grilled cheese?"

"I love grilled cheese," Jianna's reply carried behind her to Jack, who chuckled.

"Well, good because that's what you're getting."

**...**

It didn't take long for Jianna to fall into place at the Mercer household. After the first week following the encounter with his mother, she found herself spending more time at Jack's house than her own. Not that her parents noticed. When they weren't working long day shifts (her mother as a dentist and her step-dad as a pediatrician), they were completely wrapped up in each other. Jianna tried not to let it bother her. That was the main reason she spent so much time at the Mercer's. Aside from spending time with Jack, who had easily become her first friend in the area, Jianna greatly enjoyed Evelyn's company. The woman was a character, certainly, but she was also very pleasant and grew to treat Jianna like an addition to her eclectic brood.

Jianna liked all of Jack's brothers. One of her favorite pastimes was arguing with Bobby. Angel, who she met later on that first afternoon, earned her affection the second he walked into the house. He'd taken one look at her and said, "What's up, Freckles?" Though she complained, she actually loved the nickname. As opposed to the one Bobby had given her, which she really did hate.

"Move over, JiJi, you're taking up the whole fuckin' couch," Bobby demanded one Saturday morning.

"Don't call me that!" Jianna whined. As she sat up to make room for him she muttered, "Makes me sound like a poodle."

Jack, flipping through the channels, just laughed. "Now you'll never get him to stop."

Jerry, the final Mercer brother, Jianna barely saw. He spent most of his time in an off-campus apartment trying not to flunk out of college while also dealing in a few illegal substances on the side. From the few times she'd been around him, at birthday dinners mostly, she liked his easygoing demeanor and the way he just shook his head at his brothers' antics and said, "Ya'all is crazy."

The other big reason why Jianna spent so much time at his house was also the only one that Jack could not get her to talk about: her stepbrother. Whenever he asked her about it, she only shrugged and said, "He's just mean when he's blazed. That's all." Jack knew there was more to it than that. He saw the familiar signs of verbal abuse in his friend. The way she sometimes flinched when Bobby yelled and looked around a lot like she expected her stepbrother to jump out of nowhere.

"Does he yell at you, Jia?" Jack finally asked after a month of silence on the subject.

Jianna sighed, bored with his questions, and replied, "I told you. It's nothing. I can handle it, so quit worrying and deal the cards, Jackie." Satisfied that he'd finally gotten some kind of answer, he dealt the cards and they started playing.

There was hardly a meal at the Mercer's that Jianna missed. On holidays, like Thanksgiving or Christmas, she ate with her family and stopped by for an hour or so just to bask in the family's affectionate atmosphere and maybe exchange gifts. But she never missed a birthday, which was why one day in late February Jack was so disappointed that she missed, of all the birthday dinners, _his_. He tried to shrug it off and enjoy the usual table banter with his brothers, but they were all very aware of the unused extra place setting between Jack and Angel.

It was after dinner, when Evelyn had disappeared into the kitchen, that Bobby looked over at Jack's failed attempt to appear indifferent, and called to their Ma to hold the cake. He stood up and squeezed his way around Jerry. Evelyn appeared in the dining room doorway and asked, "Where are you going?"

Bobby didn't even look back as he answered, "To find out where the fuck JiJi is." It wasn't the first time that night that someone mentioned her absence out loud, but it _was_ the first time since they'd started eating. The three brothers still sitting at the table looked to Evelyn, but she had no intention of stopping her eldest son.

Bobby had a soft spot for Jianna, not that he'd admit it if anyone asked him. He genuinely liked her, a first for him where Jack's friends were concerned. Though Bobby wouldn't call the other little demons his brother had brought home "friends." None of them had stuck around long enough to earn that title. Every time Jack tried to make friends, it only worked out up until a point- that point being, meeting Bobby Mercer. Some of them split at just the mention of his name. It hurt Bobby that his infamy forced his youngest brother to be a loner, but there wasn't much he could do about it short of threatening the little bastards, and he figured that would probably be counterproductive.

That was why, when Jianna came along, Bobby took to her immediately. Jianna, unlike the local kids who grew up in Detroit and had older brothers with bruises from Bobby Mercer, was not afraid of him. She had actually laughed at him the first time they met, and she stood up to him whenever he overstepped his bounds. Basically, she didn't take any of his crap. Sure, she didn't start an argument over every little teasing comment. If she did, they'd never stop fighting. Jianna chose instead to, more often than not, roll her eyes and flip him off. It was when he took his remarks about Jack a little too far that Jianna jumped to the offensive. She was strong in ways that Jack wasn't. The difference in their upbringing was probably why; but regardless, Jianna looked after his baby brother not only at home but at school as well and, truthfully, _that_ was the real reason Bobby liked her so much.

This was what he was thinking about while crunching through the thin layer of rapidly melting snow to Jianna's front door. He had to knock twice before an obviously very high twenty-year-old opened the door and snapped, "What?"

Bobby had to resist the urge to hit him. He wasn't used to letting people talk to him like that, but he wasn't there to pick fights. He was there for Jack. "I'm looking for Jianna," he stated.

The stoner looked Bobby up and down, and for some reason his expression grew angry. "That little slut," he muttered. "I knew she was up to some kinda shit like this. I knew it." Before Bobby could respond (with his words or his fist, he hadn't yet decided), the man disappeared into the house, leaving the door wide open. Bobby was about to go in and find Jianna himself when the bastard reappeared, towing along the frightened and tearstained girl and yelling at her, "You said you wasn't sleepin' around you little liar!"

"I'm not, Vinny!" Jianna cried, trying to pull her arm out of his painful grip. "I'm not!"

"Yeah? Well then who the fuck is this?" Vinny swung her forward so she could see who was at the door. Her eyes widened in surprised and she lost track of words for a moment. Bobby was here- he was _here_- and now he knew. He knew, and now her problems were going to become someone else's problems too, exactly what she had been trying to avoid. Vinny shook his stepsister and repeated the question, demanding a response. She didn't have to react, though, because while she was trying to figure out what to do Bobby had already decided. His fist, decorated with a ring on every finger, met Vinny's face with a satisfying crack. The boy crumpled to the ground, and Bobby grabbed Jianna and planted himself between her and Vinny as the latter scrambled to his feet, cursing and cradling his broken nose. "Shit! You broke my fuckin' nose, man! I'm fuckin' bleeding!"

Bobby waited until Vinny was finished yelling and was looking at him again before saying, very slowly to be sure he was understood, "You fucking touch her again and I'll break every last bone in your body. Understand?"

Vinny, leaning heavily against the wall, stared in disbelief at this total stranger who was threatening him. "Who the fuck _are _you?"

Bobby rolled his eyes and grabbed the doorknob. "Her God damn guardian angel." He slammed the door shut and whirled around, grabbing Jianna's hand and pulling her across the snow and into his house. The rest of the Mercers were sitting at the table chatting idly when Bobby walked into the dining room, deposited Jianna in her usual seat and stood behind her with his hands gripping the back of her chair. Everyone fell silent when they saw her silently crying and looked to and obviously angry Bobby for an explanation. He opened his mouth to tell them what happened, peppered here and there with a colorful string of profanities, but was distracted when Jianna abruptly stood, pushed in her chair, and hugged him.

She really _hugged_ him, too. Her arms were like a vice around his middle and she hid her face in the folds of his sweatshirt. After a beat, Jianna tilted her head so she could be heard and said, "Thank you."

Evelyn didn't even try to suppress her smile at Bobby's bewildered and uncomfortable expression. Jack and Angel both covered their mouths to stifle their laughter. Jerry just smiled, shook his head, and said, "Ya'all is crazy," as Bobby Mercer, for the first time since he was thirteen, returned an embrace.

**...**

**Bring on the flames!**

**-Gina**


	2. It's Beginning to Get to Me

**First: Great big sloppy kisses to my reviewers. I love you guys. It always makes me happy to know someone enjoys my stories other than my best friend and myself (Haylee lurks my fanfics, I think… JK Love you!).**

**I've been working on this chapter for days. Hahaha. I've had so much to do, what with homework and trying to maintain some semblance of a social life with my best friends no longer at my school. I apologize for the wait. This chapter is mostly for fun- Sofi is introduced. I was really excited to write her character. She's my third favorite, after Bobby (number one is the obvious).**

**Also, I think I forgot to put a disclaimer on the first chapter, so I'll just do it now: I don't own Four Brothers. If I did, this story would probably be a movie instead of a fanfic posted on the Internet. Also, if you're easily offended by strong language, violence, or sexual themes (Foreshadowing, what? Kikikiki.) you shouldn't have even watched the movie, let alone be reading this. GTFO! :)**

**Anyways, enough of the annoyingly long author's note that nobody reads anyway. Enjoy and have fun. That's what I do this for. :)**

Chapter Two: It's Beginning to Get to Me

As much as Jack tended to forget it, Jianna _was_ a teenage girl. And just like most typical teenage girls, she wanted to do girlish things every once in a while. It was at times like that when Jack was actually thankful to have Sofi around.

On a normal day, Jack and Bobby could barely tolerate Angel's girlfriend. It was understandable. Sofi was probably the craziest eighteen-year-old girl in Detroit. Anyone, apart from Jianna and of course Angel, would find her irritating. Jianna actually did as well, the first time they met.

Angel had been helping her with her history homework. They were on a military unit, and seeing as Angel was studying similar material while training in the army, he was able to help her understand the strategic tactics and terms. Angel was just explaining to Jianna the difference between the Navy and the Marine Corps when Sofi burst into the room. The small, pretty woman took one look at Jianna and screeched, "Who the hell is she!?"

"Baby, what the hell?" Angel moaned, obviously annoyed.

"Don't "baby" me, Angel! Who is this girl in your room!? I can't believe this, Angel! You said this time was gonna be different!" She lapsed into a slew of rapid Spanish, yelling at Angel and then turning to scream some more indecipherable phrases at Jianna.

Overcoming her initial shock, Jianna stood up, covered her ears, and yelled over Sofi's continuous babble, "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU SAYING?" Sofi stopped, startled, and both girls stared at each other for a few seconds. Jack and Bobby appeared in the hall behind her, attracted by the sounds of fighting. "Jesus Christ," Jianna continued as she lowered her hands, "this is fucking America. If you're going to yell at me, speak fucking English."

Sofi's mouth dropped open and Bobby laughed loudly. Angel hung his head in his hands while his girlfriend pointed a manicured finger in Jianna's face. "Listen, you-"

"Don't you point your finger in my face, _chica_," Jianna snapped, grabbing hold of the offending finger. "I'm fifteen fuckin' years old. He was helping me with my homework. Chill the fuck out. God." She turned and grabbed her history book off the bed. "Thanks, Angel. I think I'll go study in Jack's room now." Quickly, she brushed past Sofi and closed the door behind her. The sound of arguing rose from inside as soon as the door shut. Jianna looked at Bobby and Jack, who were clearly amused, and said, "What the fuck's up with _La Vida Loca_ in there?"

Bobby cackled. "_La Vida Loca_. I like that." He turned and disappeared down the stairs. They heard him call back in an airy falsetto, "She's so _La Vida Loca_!" Jianna rolled her eyes and walked down the hall into Jack's room and plopped down on his bed. Jack followed and sat down next to her.

"That was Sofi," he explained while she flipped through her book to find the page she'd been on. "She's Angel's girlfriend. Sometimes."

"Yeah, well, she's fucking crazy," Jianna replied, finding her page and reclining against the pillows. "She think he's sleeping around with the whole damn world?"

Amused, Jack said, "Usually."

"Ew." She shuddered. "Angel's like my older brother. Sick."

Jack laughed and lay down with his feet on the floor and his head on her stomach. "At least no one's accusing you of sleeping with Bobby." He turned to look at the book obscuring her face when she said nothing. "Why aren't you making disgusted noises?"

Jianna mumbled, "Bobby's hot." Jack sat up and grabbed the book away, staring at her with wide eyes. "What?"

"Bobby's _twenty-seven_!"

"So?"

"So he's _old_!"

Jianna shrugged. "Doesn't make him any less attractive."

Jack groaned and fell back into his former position. "Don't tell me you have a crush on my _brother_." He gagged.

Grabbing her book back and opening it up, Jianna said, "Honestly, Jack, how old are you? I don't have to be in _love_ with someone to appreciate the way they look."

"I thought all girls put attraction and love together."

"No way. Girls and boys are more similar than you'd think. We can think twelve different guys are hot at the same time. We just don't act on every single attraction like guys tend to."

"So you think Bobby's…" Jack blanched. "…_hot_, but you don't like him."

"Pretty much, yeah."

"I find that hard to believe."

Jianna sighed. She'd read the same sentence five times already. "Let's put it this way, _you're_ hot and I'm not in love with _you_. Why's it gotta be different for everybody else?"

Jack smirked to himself. "You think I'm hot?"

"Every girl in our class thinks you're hot, Jackie."

"They do?"

"Boys are so oblivious."

Jack didn't say anything for several minutes. "How do you know they think that?"

"Why do you think I don't have any friends who are girls, Jackie?" Jianna sat up, causing his head to fall into her lap. She set her book aside and looked down at him with raised eyebrows.

"You don't want them?" he offered.

Jianna rolled her eyes. "No, you idiot." She fiddled with a piece of his hair and stared at her hands movement. "_They_ don't want to be friends with _me_."

"Why not?" Jack sat up, looking her in the eyes. "You're great."

"Jack, if you saw some guy walking around with a girl all the time, and you never talked to either of them, what would you assume?"

"They're together, I guess."

"And if you found that girl attractive, would you want to make nice with the guy?"

"Probably not."

"You probably would automatically dislike him, right? Basically, that's my situation."

Jack's eyebrows pulled together. "So you're saying girls see you with me and don't like you because of that?"

"Yep."

"You can't know that."

"You don't see the looks they give me." Jianna looked away, frowning.

"Jia," Jack said softly. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have anything to be sorry for."

"I keep you from making friends you have more in common with." He grabbed her hand, which was restlessly plucking at the comforter. "It makes you sad."

Jianna looked at him. "I don't need girlfriends. You're enough, Jackie." He smiled, and she returned it. "Besides, girls are so catty. They do a ton of backstabbing and play nasty mind games. I'd much rather solve my problems the good old fashioned way."

Jack grinned. "What's that?"

"With my fists." They both laughed.

But despite Jianna's assurance that it didn't bother her, Jack still felt like it was somehow his fault that her only friends were himself and his brothers. He secretly tried to think of ways to get the other girls to talk to her, but most of his ideas involved talking to the girls himself, which he was terrified of doing. The only girl his own age that he'd ever really talked to was Jianna. He didn't know how to talk to others. Still, with all his plans and schemes, the only one he hated to consider was the one that occurred.

The sudden friendship between Jianna and Sofi took everyone by surprise, based on their usual attitude towards each other. On a normal day, the girls chose to avoid each other, and when that wasn't an option they opted for ignoring. But one day, about a month after the incident in Angel's room, Jianna burst into the living room looking distraught. Her hair, which she loved due to its being long and naturally full, was hacked off nearly to her chin on the left side. Along her jaw there was a thin cut that ran from her chin to about an inch from her earlobe.

Bobby looked up, gawked for a moment, then said, "Jesus, JiJi, you get in a fight with a lawn mower or what?"

Jianna glared at him and snarled, "Fuck you, Bobby." A beat later she was looking around, confused, because at the same time that she had spoken another voice had snapped, "Shut up, you idiot!" To the surprised of everyone in the room, Sofi had come to Jianna's defense.

Bobby only rolled his eyes. "What? That's what she looks like."

Jianna drew a shaky breath and pointed at him to enunciate her words. "You're a dick, Bobby Mercer, and if you ever talk to me again it'll be too soon." She turned and sprinted up the stairs, leaving everyone else to stare after her, shocked. Jianna's normally passive aggressive attitude towards Bobby had strangely disappeared.

Sofi glared at the eldest Mercer brother. "That was cruel, Bobby."

"How was I s'posed to know she'd get all weepy on me? I was just joking around."

"You don't joke around about the way a girl looks, _stupido_! You are such a-" She said a word in Spanish that made everyone stare at her.

"What?" Bobby said. Sofi repeated herself. "The fuck does that mean?"

"That word," Sofi hissed, "does not have an English translation." She stood up and stalked out of the room and up the stares to look for Jianna. The bathroom door was closed and she could see the light peeking out the bottom. Carefully, she knocked. "Jianna, are you okay?"

There was a crash and muttered cursing before Jianna replied, "Just peachy." Sofi shook her head and opened the door, stepping carefully into the bathroom. Jianna was leaning against the sink, into which she'd dropped the tin first aid kit. When Sofi entered, she looked up and frowned. "What do you want? To make fun of me too?"

"No," Sofi said, closing the door behind her, "I came to help you. Give me that." She took the bottle of antiseptic and cotton ball out of Jianna's shaking hands. "Sit." She motioned to the toilet and Jianna reluctantly sat down. Sofi opened the bottle and pressed the cotton ball over the top, turning it over to get some of the liquid onto it. "So what happened?"

"My stepbrother," Jianna muttered.

"_Ay Dios mio_, what did he do now?" She gently started to clean the cut.

Jianna looked up at her. "Figures you'd know all about it."

"Of course. Angel worries about you a lot." Sofi smiled ruefully. "At first I was jealous, but then I started to understand the way he sees you." She threw away the bloody cotton ball and picked up another one to finish with. "You're like a sister to him. To all of them, really. It surprised me when Bobby said what he did. He's usually so nice to you." Sofi paused. "Well, nice for Bobby."

"He's always teasing me," Jianna said. "I probably over reacted."

"Trust me, no one can ever over react to Bobby." Jianna smiled and Sofi tossed the second cotton ball into the garbage and stood up to find the gauze and medical tape. The Mercer house was always equipped with the best over the counter medical paraphernalia available. You could never be sure when one of the boys would do something stupid, like get shot. "What did your brother do?"

"_Step_brother," Jianna automatically corrected. "He said my hair was getting too long. That I looked like a hippie. Then he took a steak knife to it. He missed the first time."

Sofi made a displeased voice at the back of her throat. "I don't know why you won't tell your mother about what he does to you." She carefully taped the gauze to Jianna's jaw.

"She's happy now, for the first time since my dad died," Jianna said. "I don't want to ruin this for her."

"That's selfless of you."

"I guess."

"And stupid."

Jianna laughed. "That's what Jack keeps saying."

"He's right," Sofi said. "Your mother is supposed to protect you. Not the other way around."

"Is this gonna scar?" Jianna deliberately changed the subject, her hand moving to her newly covered wound.

"I don't know. It wasn't very deep. If it does, it won't stay forever."

Jianna sighed. "Lovely."

Sofi took a step back and surveyed the damage to her hair. "You know, there really isn't anything I can do about the scar, but I can help you with your hair."

"You can?"

"Of course. Just let me find some decent scissors."

After that day, they started going out together at least once a week. Even though Sofi was three years older than Jianna, she didn't seem to care. Angel became increasingly pleased that his girlfriend had found a girl she could get along with, but Jack grew more and more annoyed. He was jealous, plain and simple. It irritated him to no end when Jianna would go out with Sofi. He knew it was selfish of him, but he was possessive of his best friend. He didn't like that she spent time with Sofi when she could be spending time with him.

"You're going out with Sofi _again_?" Jack whined one Friday afternoon, a little over a year after they first met.

Jianna rolled her eyes. "Jackie, I hardly ever do stuff with her."

"You do something every weekend!"

"Stop pouting, you little fairy," Bobby said from his place on the couch. They ignored him.

"Maybe we do, but I'm with you every other day of the week," Jianna snapped. "You have no room to complain."

Jack crossed his arms, unwilling to admit he was being unreasonable. "I can complain if I want to."

"What do you want me to do, Jack? Handcuff myself to you? I can't play the guy pal all the time! I like being a _girl_ sometimes."

"You're a girl?" Bobby said, feigning disbelief. "Who knew!" They ignored him again.

"What's that s'posed to mean?" Jack asked.

"It means that unless _you'd _rather come get your nails done with me, keep your mouth shut about Sofi!" A car honked outside and Jianna stomped out of the house. Jack grumbled and sat down next to Bobby with a similar amount of dramatics.

"Smooth," Bobby commented.

"Shut up, Bobby," Jack growled.

His elder brother laughed and took a swig of beer. "If you weren't gay," he said, "I'd tell you to quit being such a pussy and kiss her already."

Jack made a disgusted face. "Why the fuck would I want to do that?"

Bobby smacked the back of his head. "Watch your fuckin' mouth!" He downed the rest of his beer and slammed it down onto the coffee table. "You'd wanna kiss her because you're acting like a jealous little bitch. If I didn't know better, I'd think you liked her." He grinned at Jack's stunned expression and stood up to saunter out of the room. As he went, he waved his hand in the air and said, "But I do know better." Jack couldn't think of anything to say to that, so he opted instead to forget about the entire conversation.

Well, he tried to. Bobby's words came back to him at random times that became more and more often over the next few months. Unfortunately for Jack, those times always seemed to be when he was in close contact with Jianna. She would be stretched across his lap with a geometry book open in front of her helping him study, or laying beside him on the roof with her head on his arm while they smoked and swapped ideas on the meaning of life with "Eleanor Rigby" playing in the background. One second he was laughing with his best friend, and the next he was wondering what it might feel like to kiss her. It was driving him crazy, but he hid it well. At least, he thought he did until she called him on it one evening.

"Jackie," Jianna said, passing the joint back to him as they lounged on the rooftop, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Jack replied, a little too quickly. "Why would anything be wrong?"

"I don't know. That's why I'm asking." She sat up and looked down at him. "You've been acting weird."

"No I haven't." He took a drag, just so he could have something to do.

"Yes, you have." Jianna grabbed the blunt back from him and brought it to her lips. Blowing out a stream of smoke, she said, "You've been all tense lately. Something's bothering you."

"Nothing's bothering me," Jack insisted. He sat up and watched her take another hit before stealing the joint back again.

"Jack." Jianna's voice was stern. "I know you. What's going on?"

"Nothing's going on!"

"Stop bullshitting, Jack."

"I'm not!" Jack ground out the remains of the blunt violently. Jianna narrowed her eyes at him, a face she had used dozens of times that demanded the truth. They had a hard time lying to each other. "I've just been thinking. That's all."

"About what?"

"Just, um… That dance." It wasn't a total lie. He had, at a few moments of what he considered temporary insanity, imagined going to their school's end-of-year dance with her. They avoided school functions as a general rule, but he couldn't help wondering.

"The dance?" Jianna repeated, puzzled. She hadn't been expecting that answer.

Jack nodded. "Yeah, you know, that end of school thing. We never been to one before. I'm curious." He paused when she gave him a skeptical look. "Plus, no one would expect us to go. And doing the opposite of what people expect is kind of our thing."

"You wanna go to the dance, Jackie?" She sounded disbelieving.

"Not necessarily. I just been thinkin' 'bout it. That's all." He hoped she would drop it.

"If you wanna go you could've just said something, Jack. I'm curious too." Jianna lit up a cigarette and attempted to blow smoke rings with no success. "Sixteen years old and I've never even been to a dance, let alone had a date."

Jack stared at her. "So we're gonna go, then?"

"Why not?" Jianna shrugged and then laughed while elbowing him in the ribs, thinking of something she apparently found very funny. "You can be my date, Jackie."

Sighing, Jack muttered, "Right."

"I don't think we should dress up or anything though. It'd be funny if we showed up in jeans."

"Yeah."

"You think they'd even let us in?"

"I don't think they're allowed _not _to."

"Whatever, we could just sneak in." Jianna laughed and Jack smiled half-heartedly. He'd dodged a bullet for the moment, but he doubted that would be the last time she'd bring up his strange behavior. He wasn't sure what he'd gotten himself into, however, with the whole dance thing. At least, he assured himself, they wouldn't have to dress up.

Well, that's what they planned until Sofi caught wind of it. She pitched a fit, insisting that they couldn't just go to the dance looking like "hobos." Jianna fought her for days, trying to get her to forget about playing dress up, but Sofi would not back down. When she had, for the third time, lapsed into begging with a slew of Spanish phrases, Jianna relented under the condition that she didn't go _too_ crazy. Jack wasn't so quick to give in. Until Jianna came up with a compromise he was happy with, he refused to let Sofi force him into a tie. In the end, he agreed to allow the button down shirt and tie and Sofi reluctantly let him wear black jeans and his leather jacket instead of a suit.

"This isn't Prom, Sofi," Jianna had to keep reminding her. "We're going as a joke. It's not a real date."

"I don't care," Sofi replied. "I won't allow you to go to a formal event looking like a hood rat."

"_Semi_-formal," Jianna grumbled. Sofi simply rolled her eyes and continued planning the terrible things she was going to do to her friend. She bought the dress herself, and refused to let Jianna see it until the day of.

"Don't worry, _chica_," Sofi chirped while carefully wrapping Jianna's auburn hair around a curling iron. "By the time I'm done, Jack won't be able to keep his eyes off you." They were barricaded in the Mercer's bathroom (the lock was broken from Bobby kicking the door in one too many times), and had been for almost two hours. Despite Jianna's complaints, Sofi had gone all out, insisting on doing her hair and makeup. The younger girl wasn't very happy with that; she never wore makeup and was worried it would cause her skin to break out.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Sof," Jianna said, "Jack is my best friend. It's not like that." This conversation had come up at least once every time they hung out. Despite anything Jianna said, Sofi remained convinced she and Jack were made for each other.

Sofi pursed her lips and picked up another piece of hair to curl. "Ana, if I asked you what Angel was to you, what would you say?"

Jianna eyed her suspiciously and said, "I'd say he's like my big teddy bear brother."

Sofi laughed at the comparison. Angel was something like a teddy bear. He was scary unless you really knew him, then you saw what a softy he could be- at least, if he liked you. "And Bobby?"

"Bobby's the protective asshole brother."

"Jeremiah?"

"The brother I never see…" Jianna paused, then added with a laugh, "Who sells me weed." It was true, Jerry supplied Jack and Jianna with pot, strictly because he didn't trust other dealers and didn't want them to wind up getting something laced with acid or worse.

"Huh," Sofi said thoughtfully.

"What?"

"Well, I just can't help but notice that you rather conspicuously do not refer to Jack as your brother."

Jianna tensed up and glared at Sofi. "That is a technicality. It doesn't mean anything."

"Whatever you say, _chica_. Just give it a year or two. You'll be singing a different tune. Jack is getting more handsome every day."

"Jack," Jianna stated, speaking slowly, "is just my friend."

"Sure," Sofi laughed. "But tonight, he's going to wish he wasn't in the friend zone."

"He's not gonna wish anything, Sofi," Jianna insisted, "except maybe that we had some damn alcohol after what you're putting us through." Sofi didn't say anything to that. She turned off the curler and set it carefully on the floor under the sink. "Are you done?"

"Yes," Sofi said. "Now, for the dress." Her eyes glimmered with an excitement that worried Jianna. She unzipped the garment bag hanging on the back of the door and drew from within a dress that even Jianna couldn't complain about. It was actually quite adorable, and the younger girl was surprised. It was strapless and almost sailor style, white being the main color. The torso of the dress was dark blue with two white collar-like upside-down triangles at the top and four white buttons down the bodice. The bottom of the form-fitting garment was also trimmed with dark blue. Carefully watching her friend's reaction, Sofi grinned and said, "I knew you'd like it. Now let's get it on you."

Ten minutes later, Sofi bounded down the stairs, leaving Jianna at the top to fend for herself in the stiletto saddle shoes that Sofi had unwisely bought to go with the dress. Groaning, Jianna gripped the railing and slowly started down the steps. She moved awkwardly, trying hard not to kill herself in the three-inch heels. She _never_ wore shoes with soles thicker than her Keds.

"I could break my ankles just looking at these things," she complained as she reached the bottom of the stairs, still staring down at her feet like she was afraid the shoes might suddenly gain minds of their own and pull her legs out from under her. When no one answered, Jianna looked up, blood immediately rushing to her cheeks when she realized the sudden silence was because everyone was staring at her. Yes, _everyone_. The entire Mercer clan was gathered in the small space in front of the door to the living room, even Jeremiah was there. Sofi stood by the front door, looking incredibly smug. "Aw, Sof did you have to invite the whole damn family to witness my humiliation? I look ridiculous."

"Ya'all is crazy," Jerry said. "Only thing ridiculous about you is how ridiculously gorgeous you look, girl."

Jianna gripped the banister, her cheeks darkening further. "I look silly, but thanks anyway Jerry."

"Man, shut up Freckles," Angel interjected, rolling his eyes. "You look like a crime waiting to _happen_."

She had to smile at that one. It was such an Angel thing to say. "Thanks, Ang. You do too." Angel laughed. Bobby suddenly lurched across the room and wrenched open the front door. "Where you goin'?"

"I need to get the fuck outta here before I say something that'll get me arrested," Bobby replied. "I'll be in the car." He disappeared out the door.

Jianna put a hand to her forehead and groaned. "I feel so stupid. This was a dumb idea." She tugged at the mid-thigh length skirt self-consciously.

"Nonsense," Evelyn argued. "You look beautiful, sweetie." Angel and Jerry mumbled their agreement. Hesitantly, Jianna looked at Jack and immediately wished she hadn't. She wasn't sure how much one person could blush at a time, but when she saw him gaping like that she knew she must've been breaking some kind of record. Sofi muttered something under her breath that sounded a lot like, "Told you so."

Angel, hitting Jack on the back of the head, said, "You tryin' to catch flies or something?"

Jack immediately closed his mouth and looked down, adjusting his jacket awkwardly. He'd been momentarily stunned by his best friend's appearance. The graceful curls framing her face, combined with the delicate blush that spread over her cheeks when she looked up, had been, well, completely adorable. And her lips…wow. He was ashamed to realize his first thought about her mouth was how kissable it looked, especially when she unconsciously bit her lower lip the way she always did when she was uncomfortable. But the feature that shocked him the most was her eyes. The incredible, pale green was so much more prominent ringed in the dark kohl liner and smoky eye-shadow Sofi had applied. Clearing his throat, Jack looked up again.

Jianna, stepping away from the stairs and spreading her arms, said, "Okay, lemme have it. How silly do I look right now?" She tilted her head to the side and bit her lip again.

Jack drew a deep breath, trying to form words in his head. All he could come up with was, "Uh, you look, um, really good, Jia."

"_Stupido_," Sofi commented, not bothering to keep her voice low.

Slowly, smiles spread across the faces of the two uncomfortable teens, and then they laughed. Jianna carefully walked over to him and put her hand on the top of her head, drawing it across to compare her height with Jack's. She almost came up to his eyes with the extra height.

"Hey, I'm almost as tall as you, Jackie," Jianna said.

Jack laughed, glad for the chance to dispel some of the tension. "It'll take more than a pair of shoes for that," he said.

"Okay," Evelyn called to get their attention. She held up a camera. "Get by the fireplace."

Jack groaned. "Aw, Ma! Why you gotta act like this is Prom or something?"

"Humor me." With a collective sigh, they did.

It wasn't until after twenty minutes of picture taking (Evelyn couldn't get them to stop making faces or pushing each other) that they finally made it to the car. Bobby became quickly aggravated with Jack, who kept switching the radio station, and eventually he batted his little brother's hand away and shut it off altogether. As they pulled up to the school, a few kids milling about in the front turned to stare at the beat up clunker as it pulled up to the curb.

"This was a stupid idea," Jianna repeated.

"Aw, c'mon, it's not that bad," Jack said.

"JiJi, quit acting so fuckin' self-conscious, all right?" Bobby added. "You're a knockout."

Jianna, blushing and opening the back door, muttered, "Thanks." She got out and stood there awkwardly waiting for Jack, muttering, "I can't believe we're doing this."

Bobby grabbed Jack's arm as he reached for the handle, stopping him. "Keep an eye on her Jack," he said.

"I won't let anything happen to her," Jack promised. "Not that she really needs my help."

"Yeah, sure. Just be careful."

Jack shrugged him off and got out of the car. He theatrically offered his arm to Jianna, who was avoiding the stares of everyone in front of the school. "Shall we?"

Smiling, Jianna linked her arm through his. "We shall."

**...**

**Okay, I hope you liked it. I'm trying real hard to get the characters right. I want to make them believable enough that, while reading, you can see them in your head doing or saying whatever. I hope I did all right. Nobody's perfect. Least of all me. ;)**

**-Gina**


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